Welcome to my comprehensive Screenshot Let's Play of Tales of Vesperia.

If you're unfamiliar, the Tales series is a long-running series of JRPGs by Namco that features fast real-time battle systems (often with local co-op multiplayer support!) and tends to focus on their characters and the interaction between them more than the story itself.

Tales of Vesperia was originally released in 2008 for the Xbox 360, and ported to the PlayStation 3 a year later with some additional and changed content. Only the Xbox 360 version was released in English officially. The PS3 version can still be enjoyed in English however thanks to a fan-translation patch and translation guide.

I like the Tales series a lot, so I decided to present one of them to the world. When I started this LP, Vesperia was my favorite Tales game, though that is no longer true by the end of the LP. Not because I like Vesperia any less, but because I like other entries more now -- this LP did go on for multiple years and saw new entires in the series release throughout that timeframe. Vesperia is still cool though, so I hope you enjoy the LP regardless!

This LP shows off the entire game using the English Xbox 360 release, with notable changes and additions made in the PlayStation 3 version inserted where appropriate.

Do note that a lot of this LP was written while the fan-translation of the PS3 version was still ongoing. As such, some translations in the LP may be a bit more rough and not entirely match what was eventually put out in the finished patch and guide.

Table of Contents

Updates with this icon contain storyline progress. Updates with this icon contain sidequests. Updates with this icon contain significant additions and/or changes from the PS3 version of the game.

Our world, Terca Lumireis.
No one knows how far its lands and oceans stretch.

For the people are no match against the hordes of monsters that crawl the earth.

Barriers protect the cities in which we live, and we are completely dependent upon them for our survival.
These barriers are generated by the blastia.
Blastia use the primeval power of aer that fills the world to provide us with fire, water, and light. They provide us with everything that has made the empire prosper.

Perhaps one day, we may even forget the threat of the vicious monsters lying in wait, just beyond the barriers.

The blessings of the blastia will bestow ever more prosperity to the world and peace to its people.

Oh no... I don't get it. What could have happened to the barrier in this town?

From the imperial capital Zaphias, bedrock of peace, we pray: May tranquility bless this world.

After the opening cinematic, we start the game in our protagonist's room in the Imperial Capital, Zaphias, taking a look at his dog. A kid enters the room.

Yuri! This is not good! What's with all the yelling, Ted?

And they just finished fixing it. What's the big deal? Just leave it to the mighty Imperial Knights. That's what they're there for. Hah, the Knights? You know they never come to the lower quarter.

I already tried to get Flynn. They wouldn't even let me see him!

Never mind that, come on! We're short on people!??? (offscreen): Ted! Ted! You get down here! They need your help, too! I'll...I'll be there in a sec! Yuri... Come on already! That's weird. He always comes running whenever there's trouble... This place is gonna become an aquarium soon if this keeps up.

Our view switches to outside, and we see Ted running down the stairs, into the inn, and back out again. Yuri feels that jumping down from the window is much quicker, so he does just that.

Yuri!

We now gain control of our character and immediately get introduced to one of the defining features of the series: Skits. Skits are small conversations between your party members that happen while walking around in towns, dungeons or the world map. I really like skits since they do a great job of developing the chemistry between the characters and can be quite fun, and kinda wish more jRPGs had things like them.

Unlike Symphonia or Abyss, Skits are actually voiced in the English version of Vesperia, so I'm providing a video clip of each skit we encounter.

Skit: Everyday in the Lower Quarter First, the trouble with the Knights yesterday. Now the aque blastia breaks... Why does stuff like this happen every day in the lower quarter? Woof! I know, I know. There's no use whining about it. Woof!

You can also open up the menu now to take a look at it, but aside from changing your settings there's not much to do there yet.

Resident: Yeah, but you're late so I'm not sharing. Hah hah. How nice.Resident: Hey, its sink or swim in this world. Looks like that blue-blooded mage we hired to fix the blastia left the job half done. Glad you could find the time to stop by, Yuri! Take it easy with the water sports, old man. You're not getting any younger. You're up next. Not afraid of a little water, I hope. Yikes. Come on now, put your backs into it! Heave, ho! Heave... Hanks is really going at it.Resident: He feels responsible. He's the one who pushed the people to get the money together for the repairs. And now he's the one who's all wet. It's not Hanks' fault that mage did a two-bit repair job though.Resident: That's true. He even parted with his wife's keepsake to help raise the money.

Yuri walks a bit around the fountain to take a closer look at it, and notices something...

Hey, Yuri! If you're not gonna help out, stand clear! This is dangerous! Hanks, did you see the blastia core anywhere? You know, that shiny piece in the center. Huh? ...Is it gone? Yeah. The blastia won't work with the core missing. That aristocrat who came to do the repairs was the last person to touch the blastia, right? That's right, a Mr. Mordio. And he lives in the royal quarter? Yeah, so? Forget about that Yuri, give us a hand here! ...Sorry Hanks, I just remembered an errand I've gotta run. Hey, wait just a minute! You're not seriously thinking of going to Mr. Mordio's place are ya?

drat it, Yuri... Just because you can do a few tricks with that bodhi blastia, you think you're invincible. Here's hoping he doesn't do anything crazy...Resident: He always seems to cause problems when the lower quarter's involved. Even the Knights have started keeping an eye on him...Resident: Well, it's just an average day for Yuri. I'm sure he'll be fine.

We continue along the way and after a while reach the Public Quarter. To the right we could go out of the city, but for now we want to go to the left, towards the Royal Quarter.

I stop by the item shop to buy some Magic Lenses, which allow you to scan your enemies' stats and view their current HP, and an Apple Gel or two. Apple Gels are a cheap and reliable health recovery item throughout the entire game, as they heal 30% of your max HP.

Going a bit further, we run into this weird... guy.

Wonder Reporter: Over here! Right here! I'm the Wonder Reporter! Bringing you the articles about what matters most, every day! Do you read the newspaper in the morning? Cup of coffee? Donut? What? You don't? That just won't do! What epic thing has transpired today? You'll never believe it! You can read it whenever, wherever, and with no effort at all! Yes, it's the Wonder Log! Put it to good use! ...And by the way, let's let the fact that I'm in the wall be our little secret, okay? ☆ Well then, farewell! ...?

The Wonder Log allows us to view a Synopsis of all past events in the menu, a really useful feature if you ever lose track of what you're supposed to do. Sadly, the Synopsis in this game is very plain and boring to read, unlike Abyss' or Symphonia 2's, which are written in-character. Oh well.

Walking up those stairs in the background, we reach the Royal Quarter, but that's for next time!

Admiral H. Curtiss fucked around with this message at Oct 9, 2016 around 19:54

It's, like, I don't know, the Symphonia team were sitting there twiddling their thumbs or whatever it is they do and then they were suddenly and violently enlightened. I don't know what changed exactly, but this game is just so... alarmingly free of bullshit when compared to Symphonia. It comes across as an honest, self confident JRPG.

I mean, sure, it has a few dumb moments (most of which involve that one goddamn background track that makes me want to murder things, you know which one I mean) but overall... I really like this game.

Cake Attack posted:

This is a fantastic game. Also, Yuri is the best protagonist, I don't get why more JRPG protagonists can't be like him.

Because we can't have good things. Duh.

Looking forward to this, I've seen bits and pieces of this game before.

Fedule posted:

It's, like, I don't know, the Symphonia team were sitting there twiddling their thumbs or whatever it is they do and then they were suddenly and violently enlightened. I don't know what changed exactly, but this game is just so... alarmingly free of bullshit when compared to Symphonia. It comes across as an honest, self confident JRPG.

I'm pretty sure most of the people who worked on Symphonia left to work on Arc Rise Fantasia.

Cake Attack posted:

This is a fantastic game. Also, Yuri is the best protagonist, I don't get why more JRPG protagonists can't be like him. I couldn't give a source, but isn't he pretty popular in Japan as well?

Agreed. This is quite possibly the best Tales game. I have a bit of a problem with the story later, though -- basically there's a lot of interesting moral questions that start getting presented somewhere around the middle of the game, when Yuri starts turning into more and more of a terrorist vigilante and Flynn starts turning into more and more of a fascist to keep up with the pressures of his job, but it gets completely abandoned when everyone forgets their differences to team up against Generic Anime Big Bad #47. I already weirded out my own thread by babbling about it there, though, so I'll hold off on discussing it here until we get to the relevant plot points.

Black hat forever. Almost all the other costume pieces are too ridiculous (dog puppets?) or barely visible, but the black hat really complements the outfit.

Are you going to do all the sidequests? The sidequests involve backtracking at some random point to a random location, and if you don't use a guide you waste a lot of time scouring the world after any and every minor event, hearing NPCs recite their two lines.

I think there are a bunch of people who can create trailing images. I know some who could do this as if they were just going out for a stroll.

yrF posted:

Are you going to do all the sidequests? The sidequests involve backtracking at some random point to a random location, and if you don't use a guide you waste a lot of time scouring the world after any and every minor event, hearing NPCs recite their two lines.

I'm planning on playing along Kouli's Sidequest Guide (contains spoilers!) for the most part, so unless it's a really annoying and/or pointless sidequest, you'll see it. Yeah, Tales games have really weird and annoying sidequest triggers.

Everyone posted:

Admiral H. Curtiss posted:

I'm planning on playing along Kouli's Sidequest Guide (contains spoilers!) for the most part, so unless it's a really annoying and/or pointless sidequest, you'll see it. Yeah, Tales games have really weird and annoying sidequest triggers.

One sidequest, that returns a ton of titles and prizes, has a cutoff point "leave a town and you lose it."

Guess when I saved to check to see if I had any sidequests I missed. After that, when I played with friends, we made two saves in case of anything else like that.

Anyway, this game is still amazing. Are you going to show off how video poker can break the whole system of "money"? I'll cut that spoiler out if you want.

Plutonic Cheddar posted:

I can't believe that they wouldn't release the "true" version here, though. That really pissed me off.

I thought Troy Baker confirmed in an interview a few years back that they'd be releasing it outside of Japan as well. Must've changed since then, but I've seen in a few places that it's confirmed still just with a TBA release date for US and EU though they might just be outdated if we're really never getting it. At this point, I can't say I'd be surprised. Extremely annoyed, but not surprised.

Dragonatrix posted:

I thought Troy Baker confirmed in an interview a few years back that they'd be releasing it outside of Japan as well. Must've changed since then, but I've seen in a few places that it's confirmed still just with a TBA release date for US and EU though they might just be outdated if we're really never getting it. At this point, I can't say I'd be surprised. Extremely annoyed, but not surprised.

That kind of thing's happened a lot with Vesperia PS3. Some store will list it as eventually being released or some website will get it and Graces confused and say it's being localized. It's hard to keep track, but there's never been an official localization announcement. I still believe though.

I think there are a bunch of people who can create trailing images. I know some who could do this as if they were just going out for a stroll.

Knight B: Yes, I heard something about it breaking and them collecting money to fix it.Knight A: That's right, I hear that lot went so far as to sell their treasures to save up the money.Knight B: Treasures, sir?Knight A: Worthless junk, nothing more. They wouldn't have gotten more than one Gald for them.Knight B: Not even one Gald?! I can't imagine what sort of treasures those would have to be. I'd like to have a look, myself...

Listen to those guys! Poor Hanks. Can't really argue with them about the junk thing, though.

Yuri decides the best way to greet those guards is throwing rocks at them to knock them out. Works, I suppose.

Knight B: What the... Who's there?!Knight B: Oof! If you can't understand the value of "junk," you're worth less than junk yourself. Repede, can you find the trail?

...So they've been taking blastia cores from here, too. Looks like somebody's got some sticky fingers. That's the royal quarter for you. A few blastia cores go missing, and no one even makes a fuss. When just one is enough to throw the lower quarter into chaos. If they've got cores to spare, they could stand to give us some!

Repede comes back from the left, indicating Mordio's home is there.

Found it!

Skit: Nobles Looks like the nobles are living the sweet life, as usual. Woof? The lower quarter's right there, and they still don't give a drat. It's not their loss, so what do they care? They should act, you know, noble. Not just dress nice and hide in their mansions. *Whine*

There's really nothing to do here except going to Mordio's mansion.

So this is where he lives... It doesn't seem like there's anyone around... I wonder if there's any other way in...?

Walking off to the side reveals a fairly obvious alternate entrance.

Still not much to do: All doors are locked. After checking one of them, however...

That must be...

Found him!

You are Mordio, right?

Mordio pulls out a smoke bomb and disappears. Would have been too easy, right? Repede manages to grab his bag, at least.

Good boy. What the...! The blastia core is gone! Let's go and get that core back! And give that mage a whooping while we're at it! Woof!

Yuri! So it is you who are the cause of all this commotion. I know he's poor, but breaking into an aristocrat's house... My, my, how the mighty have fallen! Just what I needed, Tweedle A and Tweedle B.

Behind those two goofballs, we can see what's probably a carriage Mordio has escaped into, ready to leave.

There's no hope of escape! We've got you surrounded! Does it look like I'm trying to escape? See, it's stuff like that that keeps you guys from getting promoted. You did not just say that! I say, you take that back! Enough beating around the bush, I guess.

Stand back, Adecor! I'll handle this in the name of the Imperial Knights. I say, I shall be the one to defend the good name of the Imperial Knights! Peons, I say, should stand back! You're the peon...! No, no, I say, I am your superior! I appreciate the sentiment, guys, but let's cut the catfight and get on with it!

Alright, basic battle system tutorial. If you've ever played a Tales game most of this will feel familiar.

Battles in this game take place in real-time, with both your party and the enemies acting at once. Normally, you always control one character and the rest of your party is AI-controlled, but if you have multiple people around it's possible to let everyone control one party member. The party AI is pretty good and very customizable using the Strategy menu.
There's three control schemes you can use, which can be set individually for each party slot: Auto, Semi-Auto and Manual. Auto lets the AI control the character. Both Semi-Auto and Manual allow you to take over, with a few minor differences: Semi-Auto tries to sort of auto-aim your attacks, so if you attack while not next to the targetted enemy your character will automatically run to the enemy first, while Manual will make you just attack the air. Semi-Auto also disallows manual jumping unless you're also guarding. I personally prefer Manual.

Note that there's a lot more to the battle system than what's described here, I'll explain those things once they become relevant.

But enough of theory, let's get practical. You move around with the left stick, in a line towards and away from the enemy you're currently targetting. You can jump by pressing up.
By quickly pressing the target button (default: RB), you switch your target to the closest enemy. If you hold it, you can select the enemy to target.

By holding the Free Run button (default: LT) you enter a state called Free Run, which allows you to move around the battlefield independently of the currently targetted enemy.

Hey, let's go! You ready?

Nay, Boccos! You are, I say, clearly my subordinate! I guess I just gotta whack these guys a little.

You attack enemies by pressing the attack button (default: B; you may notice that I customized my controls a bit to be more Gamecube Symphonia like). By pressing it multiple times, you can do a basic combo. The amount of hits you can do in one combo depends on the character; for Yuri it's three.

You can perform different basic attacks depending on the direction you hold the stick in while attacking.

If you attack while holding the Free Run button, you can perform an extra attack called the Free Run attack. This attack automatically changes your target to the enemy you hit with it, and can be chained at the end of a normal combo.

Owwww... There, how'd that make you feel? How dare you! Hitting someone in the middle of an argument is hardly proper manners! Didn't you hear me when I said "You ready?" Or were you not listening? drat it! Oh, brother... Argh... You... Stop right there! Does it look like I'm running? You! Be quiet! Oops, time for a little defense...

Hold the guard button (default: X) to block. You can only block physical attacks, magic will go right through your guard. When you get hit without guarding, you'll be stunned for a second, allowing enemies to combo you.

I say, Sonic Thrust! Whoa... Come on, gimme a break... Oooh! I say, how DARE you block my arte! Man, you need to calm down... If you can use strike artes here, then I can too!

Press the Arte button (default: A) to perform an arte. Artes are essentially special attacks and magic. You can set artes to several different button combinations: Arte, Left/Right+Arte, Up+Arte, Down+Arte, and one on each of the four main directions of the right stick. Physical artes such as Yuri's Azure Edge here execute immediately, while magic artes require a cast time. If you get hit while casting you'll lose your charge and have to start over.
Artes require TP to use, if you don't have enough TP you can't use the arte. You recover one TP each time you hit a non-guarding enemy with a normal attack, and you recover a percentage of your maximum TP at the end of battle.

Let's try that again. This next one's gonna hurt...!

Physical artes can be chained at the end of a normal combo. In addition, some artes can chain into other artes: Artes classified as "base" can be comboed into those classified as "arcane", the latter ones usually being more powerful or flashy.

Aw, you're not giving up already, are you?

You have yet to see our true power! ...This next time's for real, guys. That's my line, I say! That's my line!

Aright, the actual battle begins here. But before that, let's take a look at our in-battle menu:

From left to right, we have Artes, Equipment, Items, Strategy and Escape, all fairly self-explanatory. The most important one is probably items, which allows us to use an usable item from our inventory. After using an item, you have to wait a few seconds to use another. I use two Magic Lenses here to get our enemies' stats.

Despite being very incompetent in the cutscene, these guys are actually fairly hard for the first enemies in the game. If you're not careful, they can and will combo you to death.

Thankfully, you don't have to win this battle, if you lose the game will just continue as normal. They don't even drop anything, so all you miss out on are a few EXP.

Once one of them goes down, the other one alone is easy.

You should thank me! I'm giving you some extra practice!

For winning a battle, we get a couple of things:EXP: Experience Points, like in most RPGs gaining a bunch of those raises our level and stats.Bonus: Bonus EXP, which are based on the combos we do in battle. The more hits our combos do, the more Bonus EXP we get.Max Hit: Our highest combo in this battle.LP: Pointless for now, I'll explain them once they become useful.Gald: Money.Time: Time it took us to win the battle.Grade: The sum of our positive and negative Grade bonuses we gained in this battle. Grade bonuses can be pretty much anything, from not getting hit or hitting the enemy a bunch (positive) to hitting the enemy with an element he's resistant against or dying (negative). Grade are useless during a playthrough, but can be traded in for extra stuff when starting a new game after finishing it.

Looks like I won't be catching up with that carriage anytime soon.

C-Captain Cumore! I say, our apologies for this unsightly display. I'm afraid the Imperial Knights have no use for you lowborn scum. Uhh... P-please don't let Sir Schwann know about this, Sir. I can't believe our taxes go to paying these guys...

There he is... I say, that tops it all! Abandoned by his faithful pooch! Gah hah hah hah! Well, well, you've had a busy day haven't you, Mr. Yuri Lowell? I'm rather busy myself, but I suppose I can afford to play with you for a while. Gentlemen! It's rats like you that make Flynn's job so difficult. Flynn? A little suffering is just what that upstart lieutenant needs. When you've finished with him, throw him in the prison as usual. Ten days or so ought to teach him a lesson.

Fade to black. Join us next time when we break out of jail!

Admiral H. Curtiss fucked around with this message at Oct 9, 2016 around 19:55

I think there are a bunch of people who can create trailing images. I know some who could do this as if they were just going out for a stroll.

Shadow Hearts Yuri is indeed awesome, but I think you're gonna be pleasantly surprised by this one!

Also, small bonus thing since I'm playing a New Game+ here:

Bonus: My Purchases from the Grade Shop
When you start a new game using a save file that finished the game already, you get the option to transfer stuff from your previous run, or get some things that make your next run easier or harder.

I may do a more comprehensive thing at the end of the LP, but for now, I'll just tell you what I bought for my run. Includes minor mechanics spoilers if you care about that.

Max 99 Items: Ups the item limit per item you can carry from 15 to 99. This mainly saves me shop trips for Magic Lenses.
Cooking Skill: Transfers your characters' stats for cooking. Having one character with every recipe mastered is required for a sidequest, and it takes forever to level it, so I just transferred it over.
2x Gald / Double Experience / 2x Grade: Doubles the amount of of Gald, EXP and Grade you get from battles. Makes the run require some less grinding.
Increase Over Limit: Doubles the amount of overlimit gained by both your party and enemies. Makes for more hectic boss battles.
Increase Item Drop Rate: Doubles the chance of enemies dropping items. Pretty useful.
Unlock Battle Rank: Unlocks the hardest difficulty in the game, Unknown.
Unlock All Skits: Allows you to watch all skits in the skit viewer, instead of just those you've already seen.

Admiral H. Curtiss fucked around with this message at Jun 5, 2016 around 09:58

This is not only my favorite Tales game, but definitely one of my favorite games, period. Yuri is definitely one of the best protagonists. Apparently if you're a JRPG character named Yuri, you end up being awesome.

I do have a friend who hates the battle system in this game, and considers it one the worst he's ever used. I don't know what the gently caress is his problem.

And now I just want a Yuri L./Yuri H. team up game and that will never happen.

Lance Streetman posted:

RubberLuffy posted:

This is not only my favorite Tales game, but definitely one of my favorite games, period. Yuri is definitely one of the best protagonists. Apparently if you're a JRPG character named Yuri, you end up being awesome.

I do have a friend who hates the battle system in this game, and considers it one the worst he's ever used. I don't know what the gently caress is his problem.

And now I just want a Yuri L./Yuri H. team up game and that will never happen.

Who's the other Yuri you're talking about? The one from Infinite Space? Cause yeah, he was pretty cool.

Edit: Just came to me, Shadow Hearts. Anyways, the dude from Infinite Space is pretty cool too.

RubberLuffy posted:

Not familiar with who that is. Mind giving some info?

Yuri from Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: Ring Of Fates. He starts the game out as an impulsive bratty child, grows into an impulsive bratty teenager, matures into a likeable character by the end of the game, and then uses the power of plot fuckery, squenix, and gainax to wish his family back to life, turn himself into a child, and rewrite the entire plot so that none of it ever happened. And no, it does not make sense in the context of the story either. He is literally a manchild in every sense of the word.

Prison Guard: I know, I know. Then he was caught, and the loot was returned, right?Prisoner: No. See, that's just nobility tryin' ta keep things quiet. The treasure in the mansion right now's a fake.Prison Guard: You're pulling my leg.

You think that little story up all by yourself, old man? You must have plenty of time on your hands.Prisoner: "Old man?" Now you've gone and hurt this old man's feelings. Besides, I didn't make up nothin'. I've got eyes and ears the world over diggin' up information for me. Heh, sure you do, old man.Prisoner: Hey, I am what I am. Go ahead and ask me something. I'll tell ya whatever ya want to know. Wanna know about the pirate guild's sunken treasure? How 'bout the sorcerer who makes his home at the ends of the earth? Or wait, I've got it... I just want to know how to get out of here.Prisoner: Well I'm not sure what yer in for, but they'll let ya out if ya keep yer trap shut for ten days. The lower quarter'll be underwater by then.Prisoner: The lower quarter... Ah yeah, I heard about that. I wonder how they're all doing right now.Prisoner: Sorry, neighbor. That's one piece of dirt I don't have.

Prisoner: THE Mordio? You mean to say you've got connections ta the famed mage from Aspio, the City of Scholars? Do you know about him?Prisoner: Oho! Want ta know, huh? I'm afraid that information won't come cheap... The "famed mage from Aspio, the City of Scholars" right? I think I got it.Prisoner: W-wait, that's not it. He's the uh, the head of the gourmet guild! No wait, it's the uh, I mean...

Just who are you anyway? What does the head of the Knights want with you?

Alexei: What are you doing? I said hurry up.Prisoner: All right, easy. I'm coming.

Obtained Prison Key.

Skit: Back in Jail Back again. Man, I was just in here last month for fighting some Knights collecting taxes. I guess I get free meals out of it, if you can call it food. drat. Cumore's made this way more complicated than it needed to be.

Using the key we just got from our friendly neighbor, we can open up our cell. There's also an Apple Gel at the back of the cell that we're taking with us.

Would you look at that--it opened.

The guard is asleep, so he won't bother us.

Ever-vigilant as usual... With the way he's sleeping, it'll be a while before anyone notices I'm gone. If I come back before morning they'll never be the wiser to my little jailbreak. I think I can check on the Lower Quarter and make it back by morning.

Nothing left for us to do here except grabbing our stuff from a chest and exiting the room. As we walk out...

Knight: Who's there! Argh, they spotted me!

An easy fight later...

I need to be wary of these guys on patrol.

Like many other Tales games, we enter a battle whenever we come into contact with an enemy on the map. This allows us to more-or-less decide which enemies we want to fight and which we want to avoid, although occasionally something will just stand in our way with no way around. Each "enemy" on the map corresponds to an enemy group in-battle, usually somewhere around two to four enemies.

The castle is pretty straightforward - all paths that don't lead to where we're supposed to be are either blocked off, or just have some treasure chests containing stuff like Gels, Life Bottles or Magic Lenses. I also find a Cape that I promptly equip on Yuri for a small increase in defense.

I can't go back now!Knight A: This is for your own good, Miss, you know that.

How can you say that when you haven't done anything to help me? Please, don't come any closer.Knight A: Now, now, why don't you put that down? You'll only end up hurting yourself...

Knight A: I'm afraid you leave us no choice. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this...Knight (offscreen): Hey! There she is! This way! Please, you've got to let me go! I have to warn Flynn! Did she say Flynn?

Knight B: Identify yourself! Man, just when I thought I was being sneaky, things have to go to hell.Knight A: Careful, I think he's got a blastia.Knight B: It shouldn't be a problem if we take him together.

After a short battle, the knights are down.

Man, is this what knights do now?

Don't they teach these guys manners in knight school anymore?

Hey! What, are you trying to kill me? Well... you don't belong in the castle, right? No, and I'll take it as a compliment that you can tell that by looking at me.??? (offscreen): Yuri Looowell! Where are yooou?

Oh please, not them again. Guess there's no point in going back to the prison cell now.??? (offscreen): Louder, fools! Say it like you mean it!Boccos (offscreen): Lieutenant Leblanc, your voice is TOO loud. My ears... Yuri Lowell? You're one of Flynn's friends, aren't you? Yeah. Why? And you used to belong to the Imperial Knights? Just for three short months. You hear that from Flynn? Yes. Huh. Guess he managed to find someone at the castle he could talk to after all. Yuri! I need to talk to Flynn! Hold on just a second. Who are you supposed to be, anyway? I can tell you know Flynn, but why are you being chased by the Knights?Knight (offscreen): Over here! Listen, I want to hear the whole story, but we can't really afford to stand around and chat. First things first, let's get to Flynn's place. Want me to lead the way? Ah, yes! Let's go.

More castle corridors and knights. We can pass by the castle kitchen and restore our HP and TP, but apart from that, nothing really exciting. Once we get to Flynn's room:

Flynn must be off gallivanting around somewhere. Then... That means I'm too late. So what sort of wickedness did you do anyway? Me? I haven't done anything wrong. And yet a bunch of knights were chasing you around the castle. ...Yeah, that makes sense. Um, you see...Yuri! Whoa... What is it? I can't be specific, but Flynn is in terrible danger! I've got to go and warn him.

I wish I knew... Listen, I've got something I've gotta take care of right away, too. As soon as things quiet down outside I want to get back to the lower quarter. In that case, would you take me with you? Please? Other than Flynn, there's no one I can depend on. Will you at least help me get out of the castle?

Okay I can see you're serious, but why don't you tell me your name first.

Before she can answer, someone breaks down the door.

Prepare to fall victim to my blade...

Haven't you ever heard of knocking? I am Zagi... The man who will end your life. Now die, Flynn Scifo!

Boss time! Zagi's our first boss of the game, and thus fairly easy, but he can still screw you up if you're not yet used to the battle system. However, if you keep doing your 3-hit (-> Free Run hit) -> Arte combo and heal yourself with an Apple Gel or two when your health gets low, you'll be fine.

Vesperia likes the party having conversations with themselves or with the enemies during boss battles, which is a pretty nice thing.

You got the wrong guy! Die. You really should listen a little more. My name is Zagi. Remember it well, Flynn. Listen! I'm not Flynn!

Mhaha, oh, what's wrong? What the hell is wrong with you!? I'm gonna kill you and carve your name into my blood. Yeah... that's pretty disgusting. Oh yeah... this is gonna be fun!

He's got a few Artes himself that can be a bit dangerous when they hit, but you can pretty much block them all.

After you get him to about half health, this happens:

Ahh, now I feel it. You feel what? I'm not feeling anything over here. Yes, so full of confidence. Ah hah hah!

What's with him all of a sudden? Mwa hah hah hah!! Yuri, let me help you!

But--! Bring it! The more the merrier! If things get out of hand, run for it. I will. Oh, don't give up so soon. I haven't had a fight like this in years!

Zagi is now more aggressive, but the general strategy hasn't changed. Your pink-haired companion has First Aid, a healing spell, so overall I'd say the battle even becomes easier from this point on.

If you're planning on scanning enemy in this game (required for a sidequest!), note that Zagi's second form here counts as a separate scan, so you'll need to use another Magic Lens.

One thing you immediately want to do is going to Strategy and changing your partner's Action from Heal to Artes Only, as Heal has the stupid side-effect of her running up to and meleeing enemies when everyone's got full health.

Relax. He's just doing that to mess up our fighting. You relax! Trust me, he's not thinking that hard. So... that's just who he is? The more you talk, the faster you die, Flynn!

Dammit I am not... ugh. Nevermind. You're not listening anyway. But if it's just a misunderstanding, maybe we can talk? Hahaha! Your fate was sealed the moment we met.

You seriously think we can talk to him? Let's just take him out already! Uhh... you're strong. Ahaha. Ooh, that hurts!

After a while, he'll go down.

Do I look like Flynn to you!? Not in the least.

Most boss battles in this game feature Secret Missions, small things you can do or avoid during the battle to get an Achievement and an extra, usually rare, drop at the end of the battle. The first one here is making sure your ally doesn't get hit too much, which is pretty much a freebie as Zagi concentrates on you.

The rare drop here is the Sage, which increases one of your party members' Max HP by 10.